Libraries face new privacy issues over Web use

While access to the World Wide Web comes unfiltered to the public library here, most children must have a parent or guardian looking over their shoulder if they want to surf the Net.

\"The supervision of a child\'s selection of books is up to
the parents,\" Poultney town librarian Daphne Bartholomew said. \"It seemed to us it should be the same with the Internet.\"

No one under 14 years old can access the Internet
without adult supervision, she said. That policy, set
several years ago, mirrors checkout guidelines for
written materials. Library cards are only issued to
residents 15 years and older.